Creamy Tomato Basil Bisque

 

First, a disclaimer. This is not my photo, but you better believe this soup looks that good and tastes even better.  I have been having requests for this delicious Creamy Tomato Basil Bisque but just haven't had a chance to make it lately. So I will poach a photo and post the recipe for all of you to enjoy.  I know it's not really soup season, but I love this paired with a salad or bread even during the summer. It is great to use up some of those extra garden veggies.

This is a family favorite of ours, especially my 6 year old daughter Kate.  Even on her 3rd birthday, she requested this as her birthday dinner. Sometimes I will make a double batch, and then freeze 1/2 cup servings in a silicone muffin pan.  I will pop those out and stick them in a freezer bag, so I can serve the kids this soup for a quick lunch. Kate is adamant, that she will not eat canned tomato soup. I grew up on it, but now that I have had this I don't really blame her. 

You can make it has healthy, or as fattening as you would like by following the suggestions below. 

Creamy Tomato-Basil Bisque

 

Ingredients:

6 celery ribs, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped

1 carrot, chopped (optional)

2 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup butter, cubed

3 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained

3/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves, coarsely chopped

3 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 to 1 cup half and half cream


Directions:

In a large saucepan, sauté the celery, onion, and red pepper in butter for 5-6 minutes or until tender. Add garlic for the last 1 minute. Add canned tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 40 minutes.
 Remove from the heat. Stir in the basil, sugar, salt and pepper; cool slightly. Transfer soup mixture to a blender and puree. (You can puree just half of the batch if you want more of a chunky soup). While blending, gradually add cream; process until pureed. Return to the pan; heat through (do not boil). Top with fresh parmesan.


* You can easily make this recipe dairy free or reduced fat, by using olive oil instead of butter and omitting the cream. It still turns out great.

*You can use dry basil if needed. Probably 1 Tbsp., or to taste.

*You can add any extra veggies you wish. I have tried zucchini, spinach, carrots etc. Then I puree the whole thing and the kids will never know!

*You can make this either chunky or smooth depending on what your family likes.  My family won't do chunky tomatoes, so I puree the whole thing, but it still has great texture. I love that I don't have to dice the veggies perfectly, because I am going to puree it anyway.

Enjoy!

Heidi

Honey Balsamic Roast

Honey balsamic roast, cream cheese mashed potatoes and lemon, garlic asparagus with fresh parmesan is what I served Paul for father's day yesterday.  I think he liked it. This is our new favorite roast. I have never really had a roast recipe before, I just threw stuff into the crockpot and it always turned out pretty good.  But I will probably be using this every time from now on.  The flavor is amazing and even the kids love it!

 

 

Honey Balsamic Roast

 

• 2.5 -4 pounds roast beef (just depending on how much you need)         you can use chuck, rump or I prefer eye of round
• (1) 14.5 oz can of beef broth (or roughly 2 cups if using from a carton or beef base)
• ½  onion, sliced
• 2-3 cloves fresh garlic
• ¾ cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. Soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tbsp. Honey
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• 3/4 tsp. Ground mustard
• black pepper to taste

  

Place roast in crockpot. Put a few of the sliced onions underneath the roast. In a bowl, whisk, together all ingredients other than garlic and onion. Pour over roast. Put the rest of the sliced onions and fresh garlic on top and spoon some of the juices over it. Cook on low 8-10 hours or until it shreds easily with a fork. When it has about 2 hours left,  take out the roast and put it on a cutting board.  If you aren't able to shred it yet, cut it up into smaller pieces so it can really soak up the juices (and remove any fat).  Put meat back in the crockpot and cook for another hour or 2 until meat is very tender. Place shredded roast on a serving dish and pour juices over top.  You could also, strain the juices to make a gravy, but I think the juices do just fine!

Enjoy!

Heidi

Southwest Chicken Salad

     So I love eating salads in the summer.  A lot of times guys don't think they are filling enough, but Paul is a huge fan of this Southwest Chicken Salad. You would pay 8-10 bucks for this in a restaurant, and this tastes just as good (if not better:))  Another reason I love salads, is you can do all the prep work throughout the day and you aren't in a major rush right before dinner. I get all of the ingredients ready and put in them in individual containers in the fridge then grab them out to assemble the salad.

 

 Southwest Chicken Salad  

• Chopped romaine lettuce

I never buy pre-cut, I always chop it myself. A little more time consuming, but way cheaper and the lettuce lasts a lot longer. 

• 1 can black beans

Open 1 can of black beans, rinse and drain.  Season with a little garlic powder, chili powder and cumin.

• Sweet Corn

Take one slice of onion and chop it real small.  Sauté onion in a little olive oil and add 1 and 1/2 cups of frozen corn (I like sweet petite corn or white corn).  Season with a little salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar to bring out the sweetness of the corn.

•  Chicken

This is a great meal to make after a grilling night.  I love having leftover BBQ chicken that I can just chop up and use for this salad.  You could also use rotisserie chicken, or I normally roast mine.  To roast, rub chicken breasts with olive oil and generously sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Put on cookie sheet in a oven pre-heated to 425 degrees.  Cook until juices run clear or meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. Shred or cube. 2 Chicken breasts is plenty for my family.
 

• Diced avocado (season with a little salt and pepper)
• Diced tomatoes
• Cheese (What ever type you like, grated or cubed.)  
• Tortilla Strips or Corn Chips
• Green Onions
• Serve with Ranch Dressing.  I am kind of a salad dressing snob, so I prefer to do homemade ranch or a cilantro lime ranch (aka Cafe' Rio salad dressing)  The quality of dressing really makes a huge difference. 
• Drizzle with BBQ sauce. 
• Serve with a fresh lime to squeeze over top. 

 

     Obviously, all of these ingredients are optional, so make it how you like!  You wouldn't think, this would really be a great meal for kids, but my kids really enjoy it.  They are finally to the age that they like it all together as a salad, but for younger kids, they probably will just like all of the ingredients separately on a plate with dressing to dip :)

 

I served this tonight with cinnamon cornbread.  (I posted that I little while ago)

 

It might sound like a lot of work, but again, if you do little bits throughout the day, it doesn't take much time at all. 

 

Enjoy!

 

Heidi

Chicken Tortellini with Broccoli

 

 

So we had quite the crowd at the lemonade stand the other day and we had to rush off to a T-ball game without eating a decent dinner.  So when we got home, I went for my quickest, easiest meal that I make when I'm in a time crunch.  Rather than turning to a box of Mac and Cheese, I turn to this.  It literally takes about the same amount of time and tastes a whole lot better.  Here you go!

 

Chicken Tortellini and Broccoli

• 1 20 oz. pkg of Buitoni Herb Chicken Tortellini
• 1 crown of broccoli
• 1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• juice from 1/2 of a lemon
• 1/2 cup chicken broth (I prefer low sodium, you can always add salt if needed)
• fresh parmesan
• green onions (optional)

 

Chop a crown of broccoli into bite size pieces and rinse.  Put about and inch of water in the bottom of a large skillet and bring to a boil.  Once at a boil, dump in the broccoli and put the lid on.  Steam for about 1 minute and then drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.  Set aside.

Using the same pan, bring some water to a boil to cook your tortellini. Once boiling, dump in the package and boil for roughly 2 minutes or until floating.  The package says 7-9 minutes but they would be total mush. Drain the pasta and set aside. 

In this same large skillet, start sautéing about 1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes in about 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.  Once they are soft, add 2-3 cloves minced garlic.  Garlic cooks very quickly, so in about 30 seconds add 1/2 cup of chicken broth before the garlic burns.  Squeeze the juice from one half of a lemon into the pan (watch for seeds) then put in your steamed broccoli.  Let that cook for a minute to flavor the broccoli, then add your tortellini.  Mix to coat tortellini and cook for a minute to heat everything back up. 

Serve in a bowl and top with fresh parmesan.  (I add green onions too, because I think everything should be topped with green onions.

There isn't a ton of sauce to put on top, most of the liquid gets soaked up so there is a ton of flavor. But if it is too dry for you, you could add a little more chicken stock.

Now I could just throw in a fattening jar of Alfredo sauce, but this feels so much lighter and tastes better in my opinion.  My kids love it (minus the sundried tomatoes, but they are easy to pick out.)

Enjoy!

 

Heidi

Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

    

 
These Chicken Caesar Salad Sandwiches were a hit tonight. They got an "awesome" from Crew and a "wonderful" from Kate. A little more filling than a salad, but still tastes light and fresh.

      First, I took a homemade buns from when I made bread on Thursday and toasted them in the oven with a little fresh Parmesan. This kind of acts as your crouton. Then, I put a layer of thinly sliced roasted chicken on the bun. I tossed some romaine lettuce with the best Caesar dressing ever (Brianna's Asiago Caesar) and put on top of the chicken. (tomatoes optional)

That's it! A quick, easy and delicious summer meal.

Enjoy!

Heidi

Chicken Tostadas

One of our favorite, light, summer meals. Shredded Chicken, diced tomatoes, diced avocado and diced onions ( I prefer green onions). Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper and mix together. Put on top of a corn tostada with a thin layer of sour cream. So easy and delicious!

Enjoy!

Heidi